Connectors serve to establish an electrical and mechanical connection to a correspondingly compatible or complementary further connector. A connector may be a plug, a socket, a coupling or an adapter. The term “connector” used within the scope of the present disclosure is representative of all variants.
Connectors are usually secured on printed circuit boards (PCBs), as interfaces to device housings or to electrical cables and facilitate access to electrical signals (data and/or electrical power supply) of the corresponding electrical assembly. To this end, the connectors generally have a plug body which is electrically and mechanically connected to the electrical assembly, for example a printed circuit board. A coding housing, which essentially serves for connection to a compatible connector, generally adjoins the plug body. The coding housing therefore constitutes the interface to the compatible connector and, to this end, is matched to the compatible connector for example in terms of the arrangement and number of electrical contact bodies and/or signal conductors/inner conductors and earth conductors/outer conductors and also in respect of its mechanical coding.
In principle, connectors should be designed to be mechanically robust and, respectively, have a long service life. In particular, the connectors should be able to withstand several insertion and removal operations or forces acting in or counter to the insertion direction, forces acting orthogonally in relation to the insertion direction and torsion forces without being damaged here. In addition, a connector should provide good electrical properties, including ensuring a sufficiently high degree of electromagnetic shielding, low contact resistances and vibration-resistant contact-connection, primarily if the connector is intended to be suitable for radiofrequency technology.